How to avoid replicating the 70% failure myth
I thought I would share this image which is taken from probably the most comprehensive analysis of the 70% failure myth to date.
I guess the good news is that failure rates seem to be trending down - but still high! But the reported failure rates vary remarkably from 7-90%! This is partly due to the difference in the way 'success' and 'failure' are defined by in the studies and by companies.
The authors recommend 6 questions we should ensure are answered before we start quoting these figures in the future...
- What is the context of the study? (e.g. size of firm, sector, cultural context etc)
- What is the type of strategy being deployed? (e.g. mergers & acquisition, balanced scorecard, TQM, IT projects etc)
- What research method is used to collect the data ? (e.g. case studies or surveys)
- What is being reported on? (e.g. is it a single project or wider programme)
- Can you get access to the original study? The authors found that many of the studies quoted by researchers or journals are just not publicly available for scrutiny.
- Are the claims fact or fiction? The authors found that many of the sources quoted did not involve any analysis at all - they were just judgement calls!
I think this is a caution to us all - we need check our sources before we quote the 'facts'.
CEO, Specialist in all things Performance and Management, Best Selling Amazon Author, Chartered Fellow CIPD; Playwright, polymath, and popularSpeaker
5 年Alex - completely agree we need to get some facts right here.? I think understanding what 'failure' means is vital.? Looking at your graphic - even the lowest figure for failure is 28%.? If we are talking 28% of well thought out, planned and executed strategy 'fails' - then something around strategy planning is seriously wrong.? An organisation that only has a 1 in 3 chance of succesful strategy implementation is in trouble.? So does 'fail' mean 'not as good as we expected' rather than 'not at all what we wanted'???? If it does, then actually very few things in life are as good as we expect - so perhaps its all actually quite normal.
Transformational Change Lead | Change Management Expert
6 年Good article - there is still a lot of 70% failure myth conversions in the industry. Glad to see posts like this on linked in.
GM/Strategic Change Consulting Practice Lead at The Advantage Group, Inc.
6 年Just don't do what vast majority of CM practitioners do and you sill be fine.
People Performance Booster,
6 年Too many seem to start a change initiative without understanding or determining what the desired outcome will be/feel and look like.